“Shit!” “Shit!” “Shit, shit, shit!” “I guess I only have one option.” The sirens that had echoed through the broken town were finally fading. The red and blue lights withdrew from the night sky, leaving the unusually bright moon to contend with the warm glow of the city rising from the buildings. But the sirens were the least of his worries. “How unfortunate, Opium!” a voice called. “Your luck finally ran out.” Catching his breath, Opium crouched on a rooftop, his back pressed against a sun-bleached chimney jutting from the tiles. Hidden in the shadows, he peered over his shoulder. Four figures crept across the weathered terracotta. Not cops. Luke and his goons. “Come on out!” one of them called. “We know you’re here.” The buildings of the town huddled shoulder to shoulder in a slummy patchwork of weathered stone and rusted metal, except for the massive gap directly ahead. “I’ve been itching for this. Let’s see how many hits it takes before I hear a loud snap.” Luke yelled before chuckling. He tore his gaze from the four silhouettes and turned his head quickly to the other side and looked down from the left side of the building to peek at the drop. ‘Far…’ His stomach turned from the sight. Even worse, the fire escape he had his eye on was distant and collapsed midway down. “Come on out. Just give up, there is nowhere to go.” One goon called. ‘Oh yea? What do you think Buddy’ <I do hope you’re prepared.> As in, I hope he has the guts to do what he is about to do. He took one last deep breath before revealing himself from the shadows. A small frail kid appeared before the four. In one hand, a white plastic grocery bag rustled with snacks and energy drinks. In the other, a tightly knotted blue bag that sagged with weight. “Alright, you got me.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. He stood his ground, not wanting them see what was behind him. “Honestly thought you older kids would’ve slipped and cracked your skulls by now.” He jingled the snack bag, raising it like a peace offering. “Snacks, anyone? We take the high road, I go my way, you go yours?” Opium said as he takes a soda can from the white bag, grinning from his own pun. Luke didn’t smile. “How-bout you just hand over that blue bag instead,” he called, “and maybe we’ll let you walk away with just a few bruises.” “For the bag, we’ll go gentle on you” “I’m sure you got a good haul this time” another snickered. Opium glanced down at the bag in question. Four hundred bucks worth. Enough to get the cops interested. Enough to get Luke involved. He lowered the snack bag and casually lifted the blue one halfway. “Oh, this old thing?” he smirked. “Tell you what. since we’re all friends here, special deal: whoever jumps first gets the prize.” The group spread into a semicircle, tightening like a noose. But Opium was already moving. he yanked the can and whipped it at their faces. They flinched. He spun. sprinted away from them, towards the edge of the rooftop. And jumped… “Is he mad?!!” Shouts and swears echoed in the air. They rushed to the edge and saw it. A narrow lower roof, tucked just beneath the lip. A hidden step they couldn’t see from their angle. The roof sloped downward, slightly pushing Opium with momentum as he ran. tiles clattering beneath his feet. “Follow him!” Luke barked. They dropped down, scrambling after him, but they were seconds too late. Opium reached the edge of the second roof. His mental map screamed a warning. No ledge this time. No secondary. No backup. Just one stupid option left. — Opium wasn’t planning on slowing down. He reached the second edge and threw himself toward the fire escape across the gap. Opium’s dark, over sized clothes flailed in the moonlight’s illumination, mirroring the wild sweep of his scruffy white hair as he jumped across. If not for that earlier sloped rooftop, this jump would’ve been suicide. Both arms stretched forward, guarding the bags from crashing into the wall. He hit hard, but made it, rolling onto the short landing platform. His back slammed against brick. Pain shuddered through his body. He glanced back. They were already mid-jump. One of them froze at the edge—too scared to leap. Opium shoved the bag loops up his forearms and grabbed the first ladder. Several more waited above, stacked like a cruel ascent. The others were closer than he liked. “Get back here, you little shit!” one of them screamed. One wrong step and they’d have him. He shoved that thought aside. No time to imagine what they’d do if they caught him. Climb. Pivot. Climb. The bags swayed wildly, throwing off his balance. His thin hands burned with each rung. The crew behind him was alarmingly getting closer and his earlier burst of adrenaline was fading fast. What seemed like an endless amount of floors, he reached the final ladder. Rung after rung he finally could see the top. Relief barely had time to register before hand clamped around his ankle, gripped tight. “Gotcha Fucker!” He slipped sideways, struggling to steady himself on the rungs. Panic surged through his chest like a live wire. The grip wouldn’t budge. The other’s soon caught up. ‘Shit!’ Opium looked down, grit his teeth, and dropped all his weight into the captured leg. His foot drove downward, crashing into the goon’s face. The man cried out and lost his hold, falling backward into another. They both crashed into each other into a flailing mess. Opium didn’t wait to see how bad the fall was. “Now for my next trick.” Mockingly Opium said. He scrambled up the last few rungs. lungs burning, quickly reaching the top again, almost leaping onto the roof. Below, the two scrambled to untangle themselves and climb again. Luke caught up and darted pasted them. Reaching the roof second. Finally catching sight of the rooftop, he paused for a beat, eyes narrowing. “What the hell is this?!” Before him stretched a maze of laundry lines, thick with shirts, pants, bedsheets, and fluttering fabric. The smell of poor detergent, and the damp fabric wafting his face. The entire rooftop was cloaked in layers of hanging cloth, dense enough to hide anything beyond a vague flicker of movement. A shadow darted between the garments. Luke pulled himself up fully and gave chase. The 2 others were still on the ladder, too slow to catch up. — Opium tore through the laundry maze, snatching socks, shirts, scraps of fabric of the laundry line as he moved. They slowly bundled together in his hands until he had a soft, tangled mass. “Get back here you little shit!!” He liked to think that is a fast and nimble sort but Luke was rapidly gaining on him. Having such a big carry was definitely slowing him down but he didn’t plan to carry it for long. Soon after he realized he had enough, he stopped and pivot. Opium knew he had to make this quick, he knew his two remaining lackeys would soon show up if he took long. Through a narrow gap in the cloth, he saw a shadow closing onto him, fast. He didn’t run. He ran toward it. Luke saw the shift. The scrawny kid he’d been chasing was now sprinting directly at him. They crashed through the final curtain of fabric. Opium dipped lower, shoulders braced as if ready to collide head-on. For the last moment, the final cloth revealed the two. Luke saw Opium hurdled with a bundle of clothes. He let out a small smirk. Even for a kid, Luke was big. A pile of clothes could not stop him. Luke braced, certain that the scrawny kid would splatter on contact. They charged forward, both with confidence on their faces. At the last second, right when Luke was close, Opium hurled the bundled clothes at Luke’s face. Fabric flew around his head, blinding him. Opium then veered right and dove, rolling beneath Luke’s arm as he blindly swung for a wide grab. As he was coming up, he kicked the back of Luke’s knee. Buckled, his knee dropped into the tiles with a bone-deep thud. Soon after, a charged kicked was planted onto his back. Causing him to fully topple onto the ground. The interact happened so fast, By the time Luke reoriented and tore the fabrics off, Opium was gone. Only a flicker of his shadow melted deeper into the cloth. Behind him, the rest of the crew caught up, cursed and stumbled through the tangle of lines. Opium had disappeared. ‘Serve you right.’ After a brief moment of silent celebration, Opium kept moving, hopping from one roof to another until eventually he found one of his hidden corners. He finally took a chance to lay down and catch his breath. Taking in the summer night freeing air. It smelled deeply refreshing. <Are you going to sleep here.> I asked. “What do you think Buddy” He said patting the blue bag next to him. <You know what that entails right, sleep here and let that be another day.> “I made a promise, remember?” “Have you forgotten.” … <Suit yourself.> ——— After a while Opium got up and walked over to a set of ladders. He climbed down from the rooftop, onto the street. Carefully this time. Better rested and two bags still in his grasps, He started walking. Home wasn’t far. But it wasn’t close either. But even as he calmed down, a different fear stirred. The absolute worst is yet to come. He stopped mid-step, the thought slamming into his chest like a cold iron plate. I’d rather be caught by those fuckers than...” He couldn’t even finish the sentence. Terror gripped his face, and for a moment, the boy who had escaped a rooftop ambush looked more haunted than victorious. But a promise is a promise…